Podunk Local Paper

Republican Hung Cao, who is seeking the nomination to run for U.S. Senate against incumbent Tim Kaine, recently referred to the Staunton News Leader as a “podunk local paper” and doubled down by adding “you wouldn’t even wrap your fish with that.” According to the Cardinal News, Cao also deems it a waste of time to travel to the 6th and 9th congressional districts to debate his opponents.

How is the News Leader even on Cao’s radar. Well, being part of the Gannett USA Today media network, the News Leader picked up a story about Cao’s Unleash America PAC not benefitting any Republican candidates for state and local office as promised when he created it in 2023. That story was picked up by the Virginia Public Assess Project news aggregator which attributed the story to the Staunton paper… that’s where Cao apparently learned about it.

A few observations…

Cao should research more before sounding off and belittling a newspaper and, indeed, an entire region. It does not speak well of his depth or temperament. He should at least have been aware that the article was actually from a respected national media organization and not some “podunk local paper.”

Maybe Mr. Cao prefers to campaign from his desk in NOVA via zoom, but most folks like to meet the candidate in person and take the measure of the man or woman. Tim Kaine knows this and visits the Shenandoah Valley and Southwest Virginia regularly. So Mr. Cao, take a tour down I-81, meet some folks, and maybe learn about the region’s transportation and infrastructure needs along the way. Plus, the scenery is great!

From where I perch in the Shenandoah Vally, Hung Cao’s candidacy appears to be “ridonkulous.”

Newsleader calls for a hundred year plan for Augusta Schools

In a recent editorial, Staunton's Newsleader chastised the Augusta County School Board for failing to come up with a "plan to guide the school system into the next century." Now that would be quite a feat even for the crystal balls sitting around that all-knowing editorial table.

Almost by definition any strategic plan is a work in progress that must change with the times. Planning for the next three to five years should involve a reasonably high level of specificity and perhaps forecasts for 10 to 20 years can at least get some things right. But, a 100 year plan? Surely the Newsleader jests! There are way too many variables and unknowns to take a stab at such a distant target. Technology, Virginia politics and laws, whims of the board of supervisors, federal laws, derechos, climate change, and all sorts of unpredictable things are out there just waiting to blow any plans totally out of the water.

One hundred years ago could the editors have seen beyond slow typesetting, black and white newsprint, and newspaper boys? Did they know that TV, with its color and moving pictures, would rock the world of newspapers? Could their clairvoyance have foreseen the internet and online media that is killing traditional print newspapers and magazines?

Just a few years ago could the managers at the Newsleader have seen their incredibly shrinking presence in the community and the outsourcing of their printing operations? Did they see the decline in subscriptions? Did they know a once proud independent newspaper would be owned by Gannett?

Perhaps the editors's scrying is blind to the coming end times for the Newsleader? My crystal ball gazing tells me the Newsleader will be a historical footnote as we move into the next century and likely be only a vague memory long before. So, I doubt we get an editorial followup accessing the 100 year success of the School Board strategic plan. Fortunately, none of us will be around to judge the accuracy of this prediction.

Bob's dodge ball

The Staunton News Leader's Jim McCloskey says it better in a cartoon than I could ever do in words. Bob McDonnell is dodging the people, dodging open government, and covering his own political ass. You can post comments on McCloskey's blog here.